Eli Landon had everything – he came from a respected family, became a successful lawyer, married a beautiful woman and had the respect of all his friends. Then his wife Lindsay was murdered, Eli became the suspect because Lindsay had cheated on him and they were already going through a divorce, and his life fell apart. He was basically fired from his job and had to desperately fight for his freedom, which he eventually got.
Eli goes to his family home, Bluff House on Whiskey Beach, a place that has been in his family for 300 years, to try and rebuild the life he has now. He is depressed, sad and underweight and in desperate need of kindness. Abra Walsh, a yoga instructor slash jewellery maker slash general do gooder, is asked by his grandmother Hester Landon, a woman who lived on her own in Bluff House until she fell down stairs and had to go to Boston to recover, to look after Eli. Abra has survived a crazy stalker and other horrors so she knows how difficult it is to move on. Her caring nature forces her to try and help Eli. She irritates Eli until he eats and works out, she even gets him a dog, and slowly he improves.
Eli is being checked out by a private investigator. He thinks that it is either from Lindsay’s parents, who refuse to acknowledge his innocence or the investigator in Lindsay’s death that harassed Eli so much that he was reprimanded for it. The PI is found dead and Eli is in unwanted spotlight again. He finds that someone has been digging in his basement, presumably looking for treasure rumoured to have been in one of the first Landon’s possession.
Will Eli ever find out what happened to Lindsay Landon? Who attacked Hester Landon in Bluff House? Will the persistent Detective ever stop his man hunt on Eli?
Rating: 6.5/10
Firstly, let it be mentioned that I found this book enjoyable but a little stretched and a bit generic. Whiskey Beach is a long book that didn’t need to be this long. I think taking off about 50 pages wouldn’t hurt the story at all. The story didn”t live up to the expectations I had after reading quite a number of impressive books by Nora Roberts.
Lindsay’s killer was a surprise but I hated that once again, Roberts revealed very early who was harassing the residents of Bluff House.
Abra Walsh was a little unreal. This woman is so damn happy all the time, so forgiving and caring and open, it just didn’t feel authentic. I had sympathy for Eli, because he really seemed sad, and I liked how he recovered. I liked the dog and was mentally cursing every time. I thought something would happen to her.
The book is unoriginal and I feel like I’ve read the plot line in other books way too much for it to impress me. It felt rushed and if you’ve read the Witness, you will support me when I say that Whiskey Beach is not even close to being the best book written by Roberts.
Life of this city girl 